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by the way, i do not look like him, okay? that's just completely unfair. these tweets comparing me to chris kattan. john tower, what do we got in terms of the twitterverse today? >> maybe a little bit. kelly writes, i'm up i.m.'ing my boy, kim jong-un. once you get to know him, it's worse. >> that whole thing is just surreal. what's not surreal? "morning joe" starting right now. i sat with him for two days. and the one thing -- he asked me to give obama something to say and do one thing. he wants obama to do one thing, call him. >> he wants a call from president obama? >> that's right. he told me that. he said, if you can, dennis. >> seriously? what more information do you need, nicolle wallace?

good morning, everyone. that's diplomacy. >> sunday's show's a little different. >> that must have been behind the scenes online, right? no, come on, stop it, barnicle. it's too early. >> david brinkley also? that was rodman's second trip back to "this week." he was on with brinkley and cokie. >> dr. brzezinski. >> that would have been fun to watch. >> call him. >> i actually would have watched that. >> call him. >> wow. okay. >> what was that about? >> i don't know. i think that about says it all. and you just sit right there. good morning, everyone. it's monday, march 4th. i'm a little angry about that. >> please, i think -- listen -- >> my author friend is back. >> we need to share. share with the table. >> i don't share. >> what are you angry about? >> loaded question. >> are you serious? right now? >> what particularly are you angry about when it comes to george stephanopoulos having dennis rodman on "this week"? >> i think that you just said it

right there. that coupling probably is not what you expect to see on a sunday show, nor do you need to see. nor do you need to give attention to someone who clearly brings nothing to the table. >> except some cash, obviously. that north korea gave him, right? he didn't go over there for -- you know, the beaches. >> no, he didn't. with us on set, msnbc contributor mike barnicle. and former communications director for president george w. bush and former senior adviser for the mccain 2008 presidential campaign, nicolle wallace back on our show. really great to have you. >> thank you. >> how are the bushes doing? >> i think they're doing great. >> do they send you any cards? >> listen, i don't want to end up another punch line in a maureen dowd column in the first 60 seconds. i have to say, i watched the rodman interview, and george did confront rodman with realities that i'm sure rodman had no idea, like he's a killer and a

murderer. >> look at that guy. is it really george stephanopoulos' job to confront that guy with realities? >> how crazy that he's the only american that's actually sat down with one of america's, you know, great enemies. >> let alone -- let's listen to this. >> i don't want to hear it. >> i just want to hear a little bit of it. t.j., roll it. >> guess what? this is all politics, right? he loves basketball. at the same time, i said obama loves basketball. he wants obama to do one thing, call him. >> he wants a call from president obama? >> that's right. he told me that. he said, if you can, dennis, i don't want to do war. that's one thing he don't want. >> he said in the past that he would destroy the united states. >> i am not happy. >> that's one thing i don't want, willie. i mean, seriously. >> that's the new make love, not war. i don't want to do war. >> you know what this reminds me of. sorry, could we get meacham? let's wake meacham up. this is like what eisenhower

said in the '52 campaign, i shall go to korea. and he did. and look what happened. >> this doesn't work. so let's stop talking about it. >> i shall go to korea. dennis rodman -- >> he said that at the nba all-star game. >> i shall go to korea. >> the dunk contest. we were talking, it's not just george stephanopoulos. the news stories are all treating this as though dennis rodman is like an actual person. >> hey, idiots, you're treating it like a story now. it's four minutes past the hour. let's move on. >> making fun of everything. >> he's being called the highest ranking american official. he's not an official. he got rebounds for michael jordan 15 years ago. >> it would be like sending louis to north korea. let's go. all right. >> that is a great idea. >> yeah, look at him. look at him. >> send him right into the hermit kingdom. >> one-way ticket. >> you guys have gotten meaner.

>> we love him. >> no, we've always been this mean. i'm thinking about that, but no. >> romney was on fox yesterday. >> yes, he was. he made his first public comments in nearly four months. >> what did he say? >> this is a step up. >> speaking of mean. >> speaking of mean. what? >> yeah, really. he acknowledged the impact of his loss, what it had on the gop which we can talk about. but he also criticized the leadership of the president. take a look. >> to a certain degree when you hear about the rebranding, aren't people saying they want to distance the party from you? >> well, i recognize that, it's the guy who lost the election, i'm not in a position to tell everybody else how to win. they're not going to listen. and i don't have the credibility to do that anyway, but i still care. and i still believe that there are principles that we need to stand for. i look at what's happening right now. i wish i were there. it kills me not to be there. not to be in the white house

doing what needs to be done. the president is the leader of the nation. the president brings people together, does the deals, does the trades, knocks the heads together. the president leads. and i don't see that kind of leadership happening right now. >> what is this president doing? >> well, he's campaigning. >> all right. romney also addressed what might be the enduring legacy of his campaign. his remarks about the so-called 47%. remember that? >> that was a very unfortunate statement that i made. it's not what i meant. i didn't express myself as i wished i would have. you know, when you speak in private, you don't spend as much time thinking about how something could be twisted and distorted and can come out wrong and be used. you know, i did, and it was very harmful. what i said is not what i believe. obviously, my whole campaign -- my whole life has been devoted to helping people, all the people. i care about all the people of the country. >> that didn't come out during his campaign.

it came out right before they had clint eastwood stare at the chair. >> that hurt the party. >> how this guy spent his life helping people. you never really got that out. he did also double down on that 47% thingamabobber after he lost the race as well. most unfortunate. he's a good guy. >> very nice. >> i understand it's been tough on them. what are you laughing about? >> she can't talk. >> why can't you? >> losing campaigns and losing candidates and watching them is akin to watching the car crash on the side of the road. you know you should keep going. you know there's a traffic jam because everybody turns and looks. but we still turn and look. and i think the romneys are trying -- have been dignified in defeat, but i think whenever you come out and talk about what wen wrong, there's just -- sort of wreaks of the bitterness and the regret. it's hard to watch. >> yeah. and i think ann romney -- mitt

romney's the candidate, but she got -- i think she was so poorly -- >> she's still angry. it takes years to get over -- i mean, i think al gore is still getting over his loss. i mean, it takes years to get over losing a presidential campaign. and it's hard -- i mean, i think it's still pretty raw for them. lots of discussions were had around this table in realtime on what went wrong. what we're rehashing now. it is hard to watch, you know, especially the family. especially ann romney. >> you know, the bushes were obviously very good at it. george w. bush continues to show remarkable, remarkable restraint and grace just like his father. >> yeah. >> let's go on to the news. >> as the dow hovers near record highs, there is a troubling question, why isn't unemployment dropping more quickly? "the new york times" reporting major corporations often engines of job growth have seen soaring profits but haven't been adding to their work force. in the third quarter of 2012, corporate profits accounted for

over 14% of the national income. its largest share in more than 60 years. we cannot reform the tax system. however, personal income has seen its largest drop in nearly two decades, falling by $505.5 billion. the latest budget issue in washington leaves the government with just under three weeks. here we go. another deadline. to strike a deal before funding for federal agencies runs out. unlike the sequestration that hit on friday, this time members of both parties are optimistic they'll agree on a plan. however, the two sides are still deadlocked over the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts. as the front page of today's "new york times" reads, "gop clings to one thing it agrees on: spending cuts." the article goes on to list a series of issues dividing the gop's base from immigration to obamacare. house speaker john boehner is refusing to back down against president obama and

congressional democrats on spending cuts. >> is this going to hurt the economy? will it hurt economic recovery? >> listen, i don't know whether it's going to hurt the economy or not. i don't think anyone quite understands how the sequester is really going to work. there's no one in this town who's tried harder to come to an agreement with the president, to deal with our long-term spending problem. no one. it's unfortunate, and we've not been able to come to an agreement. but the house did its work to avoid the sequester. there's no plan from senate democrats or the white house to replace the sequester. and over the last ten months, house republicans have acted twice to replace the sequester. there are smarter ways to cut spending than these automatic, across-the-board -- >> that's not true. they made it clear as the president just did that he has a plan that he's put forward that involves entitlement cuts, that involves spending cuts, that you've made a choice, as have republicans, to leave tax

loopholes in place, and you'd rather have those and live with all these other -- >> david, that's just nonsense. if he had a plan, why wouldn't senate democrats go ahead and pass it? >> all right. days after warning of the meat cleaver of the sequestration and panning a jedi minefield with republicans, president obama -- >> mind melt. >> mind melt. >> how you doing this morning? >> good. >> you're back on the 'roids, aren't you? >> i kind of am. >> you've got to give the steroids a break. seriously. you're getting muscles in your neck. >> i'm trying. >> random testing. >> we've got to do random testing here, right? >> i'm for it. >> what are you doing? you're going to look like an east german swim from her 1988. seriously. why are you -- >> the inmates are running. >> i have never heard of a jedi mind meld. so sorry.

>> what's the 'roids? why are you on 'roids again? >> allergic reaction. >> to what? >> sequesters. president obama downplayed the impact of the sequester which is in effect. >> just to make a final point about the sequester, we will get through this. this is not going to be an apocalypse i think as some people have said. >> actually, he's the one that said it. that's good. >> and the republicans. >> so we're going to be okay. >> both sides did it. >> nothing's happened. >> mike, it's all right. >> nothing has happened. >> actually, that's not true. they're not happening to you, barnicle, and they are not happening to you, joe, but they are happening. >> interesting that the president made this admission that it wasn't the end of the world and a lot of really bad things weren't going to be happening because he had been leading this doomsday course for some time with white house officials claiming that the sequestration cuts were going to have these immediate,

devastating effects, cats and dogs living together. >> this is not a game. this is reality. they would degrade our ability to respond to crises precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe. >> you can't cut $42 billion from defense in seven months and not hurt jobs, veterans. you are going to hurt education. you're going to hurt children getting mental health treatment. >> threats from terrorism and the need to respond and recover from natural disasters do not diminish because of budget cuts. >> there is going to be harm. there is going to be pain, and the american people are going to be less safe. >> less safe flying on your g-5. >> but as the budget cuts kicked into effect on friday, some claims went from alarming to flat-out inaccurate. >> starting tomorrow, everybody here, all the folks who are cleaning the floors at the capitol, they're going to have

less pay. the janitors, the security guards. they just got a pay cut. and they've got to figure out how to manage that. that's real. >> that's not really the fact. in fact, the office that manages the janitorial staff told "the washington post," the president's quote was not true. the security office confirmed the same. no furloughs or pay cuts this year. the president's statement which earned him the highest marks on the pinocchio meter was the latest in the poetic license regarding the effects of the sequester. >> a lot more children will not get the kinds of services and opportunities they need. and as many as 40,000 teachers could lose their jobs. there are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, getting notices they can't come back this fall. >> oh, my god, willie, that's horrible. what's my son -- i've got a little 4-year-old. he loves going to school in the morning. right?

and little kay, she's 9 -- hold on here. you just take a drink and let the 'roids wash through your bloodstream while willie and i talk for a second. my 9-year-old girl, kay, she loves school. we're told -- mike -- >> no. >> do you mean the pink slips -- >> starting wednesday, joe, home. >> it's so easy for you all to say this. >> willie, can you tell me about this claim? have you been digging into this claim a little bit, willie? >> yes. >> i actually have. >> and what did you find out? >> the white house actually, turned out, couldn't produce a single district where the sequester was shown to explicitly cause layoffs. another four pinocchios from "the washington post" fact check. >> what about this one, though? there was another claim. i know this one has to be accurate. let's roll this one. come on. >> we are beginning today discussions with our unions to likely close more than 100 air traffic control towers at

airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations per year. >> wow, we're not going anywhere. okay. >> all right. >> by the way, the assistant -- did you see panetta? he was really angry. and for good reason. you know, his assistants went out and said this was going to amount to castration. now, i've never been castrated, but it doesn't sound like a good thing. >> that sounds painful. >> and another thing said it was self-induced suicide, something like that. little-known fact, though -- >> who said that, a democrat or a republican? >> democrat. >> since republicans were whining about this so-called nonsequester that you all think don't exist. >> it always doesn't have to be like a republican or democrat thing. both sides were exaggerated. >> you could say both sides exaggerated, but i'd like to go back to the first claim. >> the administration, though, is continuing. and on the defense budget cuts, in particular, nicolle, defense

spending -- defense spending continues to go up every single year. even after the sequester. there are no cuts. there are no cuts at the pentagon. >> well, there were never any cuts, right? >> right. >> we never cut. and what's so interesting to me is how completely disoriented the democrats and the obama administration seems to have become by the message here. we talk a lot when an administration gets their facts wrong, particularly when it pertains to national security. it's a real crisis we talk about. investigating. we talk about, you know, the most dire consequences for a white house that gets the facts wrong with had it cohen it come security. economic security is no less dire in the minds of most americans. and to say they have their facts wrong would be a kind description of what's gone on here. they are either misleading the public deliberately, totally

confused about the effect of what the cuts would be, or they have no idea what they're doing. >> the president's running a presidential campaign. nobody told him that he won. he's done 18 events, i think, 17, 18 events. he's campaigning all over the place. he's exaggerating like he's in the middle of a campaign, mika. >> so i'd say both sides are exaggerating. from my perspective, i would not argue that both sides exagger e exaggerated including the president. having said that, the president would respond to "the washington post" article point by point. saying that janitors on capitol hill did receive notice that they will not get o.t. anymore, and they depend on that money. it is a difference than saying their pay will be cut, but it is money that they get that they are not going to get now. number two, the white house will tell you that 800,000 people got furlough notices in the department of defense. and that when you do the math, these are all clustered down into seven months, these cuts. so they're concentrated. and certain major things are exempt which makes the people

who really don't need these cuts, the people who aren't the super rich, will be affected by them. and over the course of time 750,000 jobs will be lost. >> actually, here's the problem. they knew the sequester was coming. >> they created the sequester. the sequester isn't a storm that they saw -- they created the sequester. >> so the president creates a sequester. >> along with the republicans. >> but the president -- it was the president and jack lew's idea, and they get very upset when you give them that reality. >> right. >> and so they knew it was coming. and in fact -- >> because they created it. they gave birth to it. >> budget seven months ago, asked the president, should we go ahead and start planning so these agencies won't be hurt? the response was, no. just budget. budget the way you normally budget. and so they didn't prepare for it. and the president campaigned, and he's still campaigning. he's exaggerating. and we now get to a point where

it's actually 1.2% this year. it's going to not be $85 billion. it's going to be $42 billion because cbo says that's all the cuts that will be implemented this year. $43 billion out of a $3.55 billion budget. that's also $42 billion out of a $16 trillion economy. that's about a penny on a dollar. that the white house has to cut. and this really unfortunate scene where you have the president, nicolle, going out there trying to tell us that because of a penny out of a dollar being cut, planes are going to fall from the sky, and people are going to eat rotten meat. e. coli. >> you're going to get it. >> we're not going to be able to forecast, their words, not ours, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes. this is a very effective penny, this penny that's been cut. >> where are we that we can't cut -- is this where we are as a

country? we can't ever cut anything ever? imagine -- so instead of going into this with courage and bravery the way it's been said to the country, here's where we are and we have to make cuts and it's not how we would have designed them, but here's where we are. and we feel confident so you should feel confident. we'll get through this. which seemed to be a message he tried to tack on to his fearmongering friday at 4:00. but where are we that we can't cut that teeny bit out of our federal government? because i don't think that's where the public is. i think the public believes we can do that. now, they've left out the largest chunks, the entitlement programs. >> they're cutting -- willie and mike -- the worst absolute place to cut. >> right. >> well, it's predictable that that would be the case. their public relations problem, the administration's public relations problem, is that when you talk about the cuts that are being made and the cuts that will have to be made within this budget, the sequester cuts, is that american families, given the ever-widening income gap over the last ten years, they've

been taking one cent out of every dollar that they earn, two cents out of every dollar they earn just to get by. that the government can't do this is mystifying to most people. >> mika's right that people are being affected by this. military towns, traffic controllers. there are people losing money over this, but these are, in the grand scheme of our budget, marginal cuts. so as nicolle says, if you believe it has to happen next year o ten years from now, how can we tackle that if we can't do this? >> and the sad thing, mika, if the president had planned ahead, if the president had told his management -- budget management office, let's go ahead and plan for the worst-case scenario, hope we avoid it, but if that does -- if we do have to save a penny on the dollar, then we can do it wisely so people don't get hurt. >> it's not wise. i think everyone -- >> they're ridiculous. >> to force a grand bargain, and even that didn't work. we can argue about who does or doesn't get hurt. it hurts people.

and there will be jobs lost and growth will be affected, and that's from not the white house. >> and it should have been avoided. it could have been avoided. >> we don't need this right now. >> the pain even from the sequestration could have been minimized if the white house had planned ahead. they wanted this showdown. they got the showdown. and now they're campaigning on it. we'll see how it turns out. maybe it turns out well for them. but some people are hurt. some people are hurt because of their politicking. >> and the rich still have their loopholes. senator kirsten gillibrand will be here. >> you still have your loopholes? if you fly on your g-5 from the south of france here -- >> there are foreclosing loopholes, until they talk about this deal, which is the one thing they had to do to get to a grand bargain, the one thing, and they couldn't do it, it's sad. and every single one, you'll ask -- do you agree with closing loopholes? yes. >> do you agree with closing loopholes when flying back from the south of france?

can you deduct that? >> from "the new york times" nick confessore. >> he's got some good hair. look at his hair. look at that hair. that is great hair. >> valerie plame. >> he looks like he's in one of those vampires series. >> he does. my girls were watching that last night. >> what's that series? "twilight." up next, the top stories in the "politico playbook." >> why can't i do this to my hair? you want to see what a real vampire looks like. >> with a check on the forecast, another storm? >> yep. i'll be right down there for breakfast soon. good morning, everyone. here's what we're dealing with out there today. big snowstorm going to roll across the country. we're watching it now in areas of the northern plains, especially in north dakota. our friends in fargo, the snow has begun for you. now it's beginning to snow in minneapolis. those are our travel trouble spots. as advertised last week, this storm's going to track all the way across the country. already winter storm warnings up

for chicago. we have winter storm watches for all of the washington, d.c., and baltimore areas. this is how it's going to play out. we have the snow today. if you look at the accumulations, not a lot by tomorrow morning. mostly about three to six inches. much of minnesota into areas of iowa. it's as we go throughout the day on tuesday, the storm really accelerates. and that's when the snow will be at its worst. chicago, fort wayne, toledo, northern indianapolis. i think in chicago tomorrow morning you'll probably get to work or school okay, but coming home could be very difficult and some heavy snow. and then by wednesday morning, that's when the heaviest snows begin especially around washington, d.c., and baltimore. that's also when the storm is at its strongest. it's going to be very windy along the coast. we'll have coastal flooding concerns especially at the high tide cycles. we could even be worried about beaches, the same ones struck by hurricane sandy. coastlines and even southern jersey. so let me give you some specifics on the snow. again, minneapolis, this is mostly tomorrow. same with you in chicago. right now seeing three to six in

d.c. and also in baltimore. much more in the mountains to the west of town. again, the bottom line with this storm, it's beginning to make its journey across the country. it will be exiting the east coast come wednesday night. so plan accordingly for your travel trouble. and what a beautiful sunrise shot we have here. chopper 4 there in new york city. a little mackerel sky. that is gorgeous. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. many cereals say they're good for your heart, but did you know there's a cereal that's recommended by doctors? it's post shredded wheat. recommended by nine out of ten doctors

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shuttle justice department officials around on luxury gulf stream jets. >> wow! how much, mika, does your g-5 cost an air to keep up in the air? >> it depends on what corporate loophole i'm jumping through. according to the government accountability office, u.s. attorney general eric holder and his predecessor used private jets for business and personal trips 88 times. >> 88 times. >> that's just not good. >> 88 times. you know what that means, willie. i want to be attorney general. >> you're a lawyer. >> i am a lawyer. >> you're well on your way. >> that looks like fun. >> "the new york times." >> top banks, u.s. banks have found they wrongfully foreclosed on more military families' homes than originally reported. according to the paper, more than 700 military homes were foreclosed upon, and around two dozen families saw their seized homes -- homes seized amid the housing crisis. that's terrible. >> warren buffett highlighted

his purchases of local newspapers. 28 dailies in more than a year, buffett wrote in part, there is no substitute for a local newspaper has doing its job. what would he be seeing? >> a couple years ago i started saying to these local newspapers -- a lot of my friends that are in local newspapers that are complaining. they'd always say to me the same thing. we're turning a great profit, and the guys, you know, out of the home office want even more. they want to squeeze even more. they want us to cut even more. and it became obvious to me, i'm sure to you, about four or five years ago, if you just got the multinational corporations out of the business and got other people in that just owned the local newspaper -- >> it's a very profitable market. >> it is very profitable, but it's not profitable if you are a major corporation and you're squeezing it for every dime. you know, i predicted this four or five years ago that local newspapers were going to start

exploding again because it's still really profitable if you're not being -- you know, what do they do? they say, we need an 11% profit this year. so fire five of your best reporters, three of your best ad people, and slash the newsroom. >> if they are locally owned or owned by an understanding parent company, middle-market newspaper, allentown, pennsylvania, worcester, massachusetts, can be very profitable. you're right. when the large parent company says gee, that was really good, you made 11% profit. we have to make 13% profit to meet our overall profit. >> fire three of your best reporters. >> yeah. that's when they get damaged. it's a terrific business. >> let's move to "the detroit news." the auto industry saw sales of new vehicles rise by 3.7% last month due in part for good numbers for the pickup truck -- >> i got mine. >> auto executives say -- i actually have mine -- say they can thank a surge in the construction industry for the gains. the upturn in housing starts

have been linked to an increased demand for new trucks. and from our parade of papers, "the charleston post and cour r courier," 2 1/2 years after an aggressive treatment plan, doctors say they believe a child born with hiv has been cured of the disease that causes aids. the baby, who was born in mississippi, first received treatment just 30 hours after birth. if confirmed, this will be just the second documented case of a patient being cured. >> wow! >> that is incredible. >> that is huge. >> that's a quick look at the papers. time now for "politico." >> the chief white house correspondent for "politico" is mike allen with a look at the "playbook." >> good morning, guys. >> you're writing about the invisible primary. this weekend five of the biggest names people looking at for 2016 on the republican side will all be in one place down in florida. jeb bush, marco rubio, senator ted cruz, governor scott walker,

and governor chris christie. what do we see here? what do we read into it? >> well, governor christie may not have gotten his invitation to the conservative political action conference the following week, but as you say, he's going to be among those down in coral gables this weekend. it's remarkable. they've gotten all the top tier together except maybe paul ryan and bobby jindal of louisiana. but most of the names are all coming together. and this is a chance for the biggest donors to both see all these acts, but it's designed to show she's donors, hey, the party has a brighter future, still licking your wounds from november, reminds of some of it by the governor and ann romney over the weekend. but we have these young faces coming up that give the party hope and hope that donors keep opening their checkbooks. >> by the way, we'll have jeb bush on "morning joe" tomorrow. >> oh, that's big, man. that's huge-. >> nicolle, when you look at those five names and perhaps a

couple of others, as in touch as you are with republicans -- >> she's locked in. >> -- who are they most excited about in a fantasy draft? who's the candidate they'd go with? >> joe. >> exactly. me. come on. this is easy. >> people are excited about the promise of scott walker and marco rubio. people are always excited and animated by the articulate way that jeb bush can defend policies like immigration reform which certainly this is the wave taking over the country. to be on any other side of that is not just bad politics but bad reading of the tea leaves of where the country's going. the thing about this group is that i think that there's very little known -- i think people are disoriented about which one of them is actually going to have the fire in the belly and want to jump in and run. so i think this meeting -- i'll be curious -- >> does jeb have the fire in his belly? >> i think he has the fire in the belly for the policy and governing, but i don't know if

he has an appetite for a presidential campaign. i don't know. >> mike, let me ask you quickly, one other story you guys are talking about, ashley judd in kentucky. you ran some quotes. may not help her a whole lot in the general election in comparing mining that's done in kentucky to i think rewandan genocide. i'm not really good with the nuances of kentucky politics, so i don't know how this plays with swing voters in the hill, as she says. i think she said some things about that as well. how much of a problem is this going to be for ashley judd? >> well, great hope for mitch mcconnell who is the top senate republican leader. democrats would love to take him out, but he's got $7 million in the bank. the 71-year-old is wily. and republican groups already running ads with some of the quotes you were talking about. also even though she was born in kentucky, lives in tennessee. quotes of her talking about san francisco as her home. tennessee as her home.

she'd have to re-establish residency. so already they're trying to paint the idea of her as a crazy liberal, even before she talks about running. >> i think privately there are people inside team mcconnell praying every night that she will run for senate. >> please, god. >> i've heard that bible studies in that office have picked up 75%. and number one on the prayer list, ashley judd. >> stop. >> you know, her own grandmother called her, quote, just another hollywood liberal. true story. >> thanks, grandma. >> my mother says that about me. i'm not going to judge. i'm not going to judge what her grandmother says. she may. and by the way, if she wants to, god bless her. i mean, i'm dead serious. you know, anybody that wants to get into politics -- >> especially women. and if it wasn't in a state like kentucky, i don't think we'd be laughing about her prospects. >> what's next, willie? >> we're certainly not making fun of her decision to want to run. i think that actually says something.

she could do a lot of other things. >> mike allen with a look at the "playbook." thanks. >> have a great week. coming up next in sports, college baseball, play at the plate. one pitcher takes matters into his own hands. that's next. >> oh! i want that guy on my team. it's not what you think. it's a phoenix with 4 wheels. it's a hawk with night vision goggles. it's marching to the beat of a different drum. and where beauty meets brains. it's big ideas with smaller footprints. and knowing there's always more in the world to see. it's the all-new lincoln mkz.

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time for a little sports now. you know, the dunk contest has been lame for several years now, nba all-star weekend. finally magic johnson decided he's seen enough. he has offered $1 million personally to lebron james to get in the dunk contest next year. lebron says he is mulling that offer. meanwhile, the heat were visiting the knicks at msg riding a 15-game winning streak yesterday. it had yet to beat the knicks this season. first quarter, lebron gives it to up wade. lobs it back to lebron for the alley-oop. knicks led by as many as 16 but the heat rallied back. just under 30 seconds to go. oh, boy. lebron steps in front of the past, length of the floor, throws it down. the heat now, 14 consecutive wins. they are dominant right now. 99-93 over the knicks yesterday. this next one comes from a

new york state regional semifinal high school game. >> this is unbelievable. >> unbelievable. new rochelle high school, down two, trying to get a shot off with 2.9 seconds left against mt. vernon. inbound pass from far court. stolen by mt. vernon. >> you're kidding me. >> put it up in the air for victory, but it's intercepted by new rochelle. he shoots from about -- let's put that at about 60 feet. that's the game winner. the referees initially wave it off thinking it was late. but they eventually determined the game clock and backboard flights were off by a tenth of a second, so the shot is good on that shot, after that turnover, new rochelle advances to the state regionals. unbelievable. >> does the kid who threw the interception, does he get an assist? >> no. but if you're going to do that, you throw it all the way to the ceiling and let the clock run out. finally, strange play from division iii college baseball. barry college facing hendricks. the pitcher from barry, levi

austin throws one away with a man on third. instead of charging in to cover home, makes a beeline for the runner, levels him before he can touch the late. the benches clear. no punches thrown, though. barry won the game, in case you were interested. 9-7. still ahead on "morning joe" -- >> barry won that game? >> barry. >> i had money on them. >> behind levi austin. who should you be working for? we have "fortune's" list of the top ten most add vired companies in the world. leigh gallagher will join us. also david faber. and "mika's must-read opinion pages."

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medicated pain relief you store in the freezer. brrr...see ya boys. [ male announcer ] bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. i'm pretty sure. i think it's right. >> thank you very much for this beautiful shot of new york city. >> can we just say, willie, really quickly -- >> and then i want to talk to

nicolle about what she's been up to. >> we want to talk about rory. >> i don't. what have you been up to? >> well, last week i joined a group of 100 republicans who signed a friend of the court brief in support of the ted olsen/david boies side in front of the supreme court overturn prop 8 which was obviously an historic move for 100 prominent republicans to take. and i think represents -- >> tell everybody about prop 8. >> prop 8 was the california law that banned gay marriage, and it's been struck down and deemed unconstitutional by the lower courts. and it will be in front of the supreme court this spring. we have some friends who -- ken mehlman has spearheaded the effort to bring republicans along. it really has done a real service to the party, because i think this is the direction that the country is heading. and i think some republicans have felt for a long time -- and

maybe we've been too quiet about it -- but it felt if you really revere marriage and you really think marriage is this great constitution that stabilizes society, that children should be raised in homes where their parents are married, then you should be the most zealous and outspoken advocate for gay marriage because you should believe that marriage is that great institution in which -- on which all families should be built. >> who are some republicans who have signed this? >> steve hadley, former national security adviser to president bush, james comey. meg whitman. former gubernatorial candidate. so it's a large group. and i think more important than -- much more important than people like me, probably all 99 names are more important than people like me -- >> oh, i doubt that. she's so humble, willie, after all these years. >> the conservative legal establishment has accepted this argument that equal protection under the law means access to marriage.

means that everyone -- that no one can be denied the right to marry. that no class of people can be treated differently and be granted different rights is pretty significant. >> tell them who ted olsen is. >> so ted olsen was president bush's solicitor general. he was the top legal mind in the bush administration. and he has partnered with david boies who is, i'm sure, famous for many reasons, one of which defending al gore in the 2000 recount. so there is this legal dream team that came together. and ted olsen has been an incredibly persuasive and effective voice on the right, making this legal argument and laying out a conservative legal framework for why marriage equality should be the law of the land. >> did sarah palin sign? >> probably not. >> is she on this list? do you want to double check on that? >> i'll double check on that. >> what about herman cain? >> i don't think he's there yet either.

don't cross her when she's on 'roids. >> singing the sequester soap opera, joe's piece in "the new york times," if i can get to it. >> okay. >> it would be nice. "does president obama really expect americans to believe -- after four years, the banking and auto bailouts, several stimulus bills and a run of record deficits -- that our $16 trillion economy cannot absorb $42 billion of spending reductions? even if the white house believes that such posturing is good politics, it's a strategy that adds up to a fiscal russian roulette and cheapens the debate, and neither side can afford to do that. democrats and republicans need to retarget these cuts in a smarter way and confront the debt ceiling debate which has been push add head by a few months. if they fail to do so, americans might not remember where they were when the sequester happened, but historians will record the dismal legacy that the president and congress are leaving behind." i would agree with that. i think they could have done it.

i don't know why it didn't happen. >> i just don't know why they can't make a deal. they can't -- >> they can't do it. >> they can't get together. you have both sides pulling each other apart. and mike, you know, in this case, this first year, it is a penny on the dollar. it's $42 billion out of $3.553 billion. the bad news is that it's the stupidest way to cut. don't go to discretionary domestic spending. that's the last place you want to cut. that's investments. they still haven't touch eed entitlements, with all of the cuts that we've seen over the past couple of years. and they now have a chance starting in march for the appropriators to get in there. you almost feel like telling barack obama and john boehner, you guys go to france for a couple of weeks, and let the appropriators that haven't worked in regular order for the past three years, let the appropriators in the senate and the house, republicans and democrats alike, to reorder

these cuts, and they'll do it right. >> the sequester cuts are dumber than dirt. i mean, the way it's being employed. but to your point, how about just getting the head of any american household to come in and take a look at the budget? because they could cut it more effectively than the sequester cuts. they've been doing it for a decade. people have been doing it at home for a decade. taking one penny out of their dollar. >> all right. you can get all of our -- >> and again, i keep saying a penny out of a dollar. it's important for people to know, that's this year. >> over seven months. >> over the next seven months. it then doubles. >> that's right. >> and then it gets worse after that. >> that's right. >> so we have breathing room. planes around going to fall out of the sky. >> but we had this mechanism in place to avoid -- i don't know. >> i know. >> i don't know. you can get all of our must-read op-eds on our website. and while you're there, check out my latest blog on this incredible woman, danielle crutchfield called the president's gatekeeper. you'd better get to know her. part of my "women of value"

series. my instinct is no. >> probably not. >> you can see that at mojo -- >> if he calls and wants to come to mojo -- >> mojo.msnbc.com. her life is incredible. talk about a witness to history. she is there as every decision is made and every change in the schedule is made and why. >> that's amazing. you know who else is amazing? chuck todd. >> he's still ahead on "morning joe" along with best-selling author wes moore. more "morning joe" when we come back.

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you know who i want on "morning joe"? >> who? >> seth macfarlane. >> oh, yeah. >> we've got to get him on. the guy is getting kicked around. he did a great job. >> tremendous. >> we do have pretty impressive people on the show tomorrow. >> he did a great job. but since we cannot get seth macfarlane, we'll be talking to jeb bush and retired supreme court justice sandra day o'connor. we're going to make them start with a musical routine that's going to have you in stitches. up next, david faber and leigh gallagher straight ahead on "morning joe." this show is about to get freaky. [ male announcer ] if your kid can recognize your sneeze from a crowd...

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some employees will be outright let go, including inner city public schoolteachers like ms. payne here. this must be so hard for you. >> this is the greatest day of my entire life. good luck reading "beowulf," you monsters. >> these cuts will also affect our national zoo here in d.c. >> we're going to have to fire three of our monkeys. we're just going to let them loose in the city. on the plus side, ikea and taco bell have made a very generous offer to buy some of our horses. so that's a relief. >> plus, there will be cutbacks on meat inspections. >> you know what? you know what? these cuts will affect our military, our civil servants,

federal construction projects, even grants to native americans. and i'm the one who has to tell these folks, young men, there is no need to feel down. young men, get yourself off the ground. young men, just because your funding is down, there's no need to be unhappy. >> welcome back to "morning joe." nicolle wallace is still with us. and joining the table, we have the cohost of cnbc's "squawk on the street," david faber. >> you say squawk as if you're on steroids. leigh gallagher is here with "fortune's" list of the world's most admired companies. i can't wait to hear what's on the list. i'm sure comcast is on the list. >> i'm sure comcast is on the list. >> thank you.

there are many on the list. >> let's get to the news. "the new york times" reports cutting spending remains the gop's central focus as the party is increasingly divided on other issues. the article lists several areas where republicans are no longer united from immigration to same-sex marriage. several republican governors are now supporting positions -- portions of obamacare. and just last week, the republican-controlled house passed democratic legislation concerning domestic violence. on "meet the press" yesterday, house speaker john boehner reiterated his stance on spending. telling nbc's david gregory that last friday's sequester is not nearly as painful as what the nation will face if the government fails to address the larger drivers of the deficit. >> is this going to hurt the economy? will it hurt economic recovery? >> listen, i don't know whether it's going to hurt the economy or not. i don't think anyone quite understands how the sequester is really going to work. there's no one in this town

who's tried harder to come to an agreement with the president, toll do with our long-term spending problem, no one. it's unfortunate, and we've not been able to come to an agreement. but the house did its work to avoid the sequester. there's no plan from senate democrats or the white house to replace the sequester. in over the last ten months, house republicans have acted twice to replace the sequester. there are smarter ways to cut spending than these automatic across-the-board -- >> that's just not true. they've made it very clear, as the president just did, that he has a plan that he's put forward that involves entitlement cuts, that involves spending cuts, that you've made a choice, as have republicans, to leave tax loopholes in place, and you'd rather have those and live with all these other cuts. >> well, david, that's just nonsense. if he had a plan, why wouldn't senate democrats go ahead and pass it? >> that would be good. if he's got a plan, i would love to see -- >> he did.

he had one. >> i would love senate democrats to pass it. we could have regular order. but these senate democrats haven't passed a budget in four years, so why would they pass any plan whatsoever? nicolle, i just want to get this out there. we say, like everybody else says, budget cuts, budget cuts. you heard leon panetta talking about the doomsday scenario, that defense budget was going to be slashed so much that we were going to become a regional power. his undersecretaries talked about castration. i wish they wouldn't. it makes me uncomfortable. another one talked about assisted suicide, that these sequestration cuts are -- >> it's like sarah palin-type fearmongering. >> here's the thing. you look at the pentagon budget. as lindsey graham's saying, ronald reagan's rolling over in his grave. and john mccain's quoting chairman mao about just how bleak it looks. if you actually look at the numbers s numbers, there's not a single cut. spending goes up for the pentagon every single year, even

under the sequester. >> that's right. and this needs to be translated outside of the beltway because when people in washington talk about cuts, they're talking about a reduction and an increase in spending. that is washingtonspeak for a cut. but what's so remarkable to me is that the sequester was not a storm on the horizon. it wasn't like hurricane sandy and everyone had to, you know, take bottled water into the bathtub and whatnot. this was something that they created. this was initiated by the white house. this was a backup plan created by the very same politicians who are now railing against their own backup plan. the other point that you have made is that the cuts in and of themselves are so minuscule, what everyone i think is having heart attack and heartburn over is that they were so inartfully done. that there is certainly room in the pentagon budget in procurement reform, in green initiative -- i mean, there are certainly places where there was waste. and any republican that tells you otherwise is not being

truthful. >> is just not telling the truth. you know, david, that's one part of it. the cuts were crude. they were unfocused. the second problem is, we continue to cut out of the wrong part of the budget. >> exactly. >> we picked the 10%, 11%, 12 prosecuti12% of spending, and we ignored areas we need to go, medicare, medicaid, these long-term entitlements that we have to trim over time. >> no doubt. and that was key to much of the debate that's taken place over the last year and a half. and yet we're nowhere on those potential cuts, or at least taking a look at that. one good news, i guess, piece of good news is medical costs seem to be rising more slowly than had been anticipated. so some of those numbers look a bit better. but you're right, joe. we are taking actually, if it was a business, we'd be doing the opposite of what we should be. taking money from what would be investment where you're actually going to make the investments that are going to allow to you grow. whether it be infrastructure or in so many different areas.

and instead choosing not to go down the road where there is real opportunity to make those cuts. it goes back to just the overall dysfunction i think when i speak to so many members of the business community, and they look at washington. the reaction has not been that negative in the stock market. certainly not the case. and even in the business community to the sequester, but nonetheless, it's the overarching theme of can't they get anything done? we still don't have an energy policy. we still don't have an immigration policy. we still are making the wrong decisions. >> you're exactly right. and leigh, what's happening is the opposite of what businesses would do. they are cutting r&d. they are cutting future investments. but they're keeping a pension plan in place that's not sustainable, that economists, for 30 years, have seen coming. we are an aging population. in three years, the average age is going to be 45. the door is shutting for us to be able to plan ahead to save medicare, to save social security, to save medicaid. >> right. but i mean, wasn't that in part

the point? hey, we're going to make these cuts a year and a half from now, blind. we're going to make them indiscriminate, and surely that will get everyone to act. if these cuts are so sensele, surely everyone will come to an agreement. and sure enough -- that was back when maybe that was a slight more -- things were slightly more optimistic. >> and there certainly are some who are saying this is kind of a presidential campaign to destroy the republican party. here's what doug showen and patrick goodell wrote in "politico." the president is obviously going all out, but not to avoid the $85 billion in spending cuts known as the sequester set to kick in on friday. obama doesn't want to make a deal with republicans. his fearmongering is part of a concerted plan that extends far beyond the sequester crisis: to obliterate the republican party as a viable force in american political life. his self-righteous rhetoric obscures a bitter truth: obama is not trying to unite the

country, he's waging a class-based battle for political gain. his goal is to win back the house for democrats in 2014, giving him a united congress for his last two years in office and allowing him to pursue the most expansive government in history. i would counter with i think the republican party's doing just fine obliterating itself. and that republicans, to your point, don't really want to plan ahead. they don't want to cut entitlements. they could have and they didn't. and they didn't because they had one issue, loopholes, which they all want, just not now, not in this fight because they'll look bad to their base. wouldn't you agree? >> no, i don't. republicans are the only political force that have been planning ahead. paul ryan put a medicare plan out. republicans have put budgets out every single year. democrats have decided they have not -- would not -- no, not full

of poison pills. the way regular order works, the way our constitution sees congress working is, the house passes a bill. the senate passes a bill. and they work together. there's no moral relativism here. the house continues to pass budgets. the senate bill not pass a budget. and when the senate doesn't pass a budget, david, what happens is you take the budgetiers out of it, all of the appropriators out of it, you force a crisis, which harry reid's senate has forced, and you have three or four of the top people on the hill rushing down to talk to the president at the last moment instead of having regular order where appropriation chairmen put out their priorities. they debated on the floor. it passes on the floor. then the senate does the same thing. >> is it because you need 60 votes for everything these days ? >> no, it's because harry reid doesn't want to put a budget out on the floor. the senate could. >> and pass it. >> and pass it.

health care -- i mean, republicans would love to give harry reid and the democrats a chance to pass their first budget in five years. but they don't want to do it. they're hiding the ball. paul ryan does it. they criticize him. i mean, they've got to return to regular order here. >> do you really have any expectation that will happen? >> that's up to harry reid and the senate democrats. i mean, i just -- mika -- >> is regular order more important than a grand bargain would have been? have they been able to do this? >> what regular order does is -- and i don't want to get too far in the weeds -- it allows congress to function the way our founding fathers expected congress to function, and it stops this government by crisis deadline, crisis deadline, crisis deadline. and so again, i salute the republicans for passing a budget every year. i hope the democrats will start doing that, and then they compromise, and then they send the bill to the president. he signs it or vetoes it. >> as the dow hovers near record

highs, there's a troubling question this morning. why isn't unemployment dropping more quickly? "the new york times" reports major corporations have seen soaring profits but haven't been able to add to their work force. in the third quarter of 2012, corporate profits accounted for over 14% of the national income, its largest share in more than 60 years. however, personal income has seen its largest drop in nearly two decades, falling by over $500 billion. >> mika, i warned this, that if barack obama got elected, the richer would get richer and the poor would get poorer, and here it is. >> come on, now. >> so many people just love to look at the micro and say george bush passed this. and that's why the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer. we have -- we have technology changes over the past 20, 30 years that are allowing corporations to do this, aren't we? and that's the great challenge of our time economically. >> productivity increases are certainly a part of it. there's no doubt.

that is one part of it. but there are a lot of different elements to why hiring has not been perhaps as strong as some had hoped. it also goes back to what we were talking about earlier. there is continued uncertainty in corporate america. perhaps not as much as there was before the election. or in the summer of 2011. >> what's the main uncertainty? >> yeah, tell me. >> there are trillions of dollars on the sidelines. >> a lot of it's overseas. >> how do we get it back? >> but you've got to pay taxes on it. u.s. corporations for the most part don't want to pay those taxes. repatriate it. >> can we get it where we don't have to pay them back? why? >> if we passed a tax holiday of some kind, then you would. >> close loophole loopholes. >> dell is bringing money back at the tax rate. but that's another reason. so we talk a lot about that cash. but joe, a lot of that cash is overseas. and for whatever reasons corporations use it over there or they might buy something overseas, but they don't bring it home. it is continued uncertainty in

part because of regulatory concerns, although it is, i think, a bit overstated, and you don't hear it as much. and because of political dysfunction. but mostly it's because of demand. it's because, okay, things are okay. and they are okay. they're better than they were. they're getting a bit better, but they aren't growing enormously. >> they're making a lot of money. >> they're making an enormous amount of money. >> record profits. >> there's still growth in the economy, and the second half we're hoping will be even stronger. >> it's interesting, merger activity is starting to come back. wouldn't you say that, david? we're seeing a couple big deals just in the past couple weeks. >> we are. >> that's never been any question. >> we're seeing a sign of confidence. it may be making more of it because heinz is being taken over, dell and well-known household names. but we are seeing a bit more. there are more decisions being made. but your overall point, sure, productivity has helped u.s. businesses avoid having to make massive hiring decisions. but they're also not building

perhaps the plants and things that they might need to. to add to that hiring. >> how many household names, leigh, are on "fortune's" list of the top ten most admired companies? >> a lot of them. these are the companies that are most admired. it's basically sort of a corporate report card. we pull executives, analysts, and board members of who are the companies you admire most? >> who are they? >> the first one is apple. many moons ago on this list, ge was always at the top. so this is sort of a changing of the guard. apple's number one for the fourth or fifth year in a row. >> now, who's judging this? >> it's directors of companies, executives and analysts. it's the corporate world. this is not people on the street. >> so tim koch's getting kicked around by a lot of people, but his peers still admire what he's doing. >> yes. that is because when you look at innovation and leadership, this company has transformed seven industries. it's sold 100 million ipads, 200

million iphones this year. >> he's got a daytime job. he's doing all right. now, number two, google. how did these guys avoid the zuckerberg effect? they could have fallen by the side. it's a cutthroat game. >> but i wouldn't rule out mark zuckerberg. facebook is on our list for the first time this year. facebook has grown into a blue-chip company. it's not that old. the companies at the top now have risen very fast. and this just goes to show you how quickly, you know, the tools to build businesses now have never been faster acting. i mean, in the industrial economy, it would have taken decades for a johnson & johnson to rise to the top of this list. >> so really quickly, i want to get through the list. amazon, number three. that guy is just -- he's going to take over the world. >> jeff bezos, exactly. >> number four, an old-line company. >> coca-cola. there's a lot. >> coca-cola. as we say in the south, co.

cola. what makes them stand out? >> this is an iconic -- in a market that's changing dramatically. >> exactly. >> this is a company that's really adapted and changed and continues to. >> number five, starbucks. number six, ibm. what a story, ibm remade itself. it could have collapsed. but it's remade itself over the past decade. >> it did. it's an incredible transformation. ibm is also known as a leadership factor as much as it is an i.t. services company. >> number eight, berkshire hathaway. >> god love warren buffett, he's buying ketchup and newspapers. >> how much money did buffett make during the collapse back in 2008 when he said, you know what? i'm going to be a good guy and put some money down on goldman sachs. >> and general electric. >> and general electric. yeah. no doubt about it. walt disney. what are they doing? >> disney, great story. >> not the employees speaking here. >> not the employees. not at any of these companies. >> no, i'm serious. >> hey, hey, hey. walt disney, what are they doing

right? >> they're getting -- they've got major hits. you know, disney's got its hands in many things, owns espn. which is a huge profit for the company. you know, again, great leadership under bob eiger. >> number 11 not seen on the list, comcast. >> exactly. >> the issue is "fortune's" most admired companies. still ahead, senator kir stkirsten gillibrand and mick lass confessore and later, former cia operative valerie plame. up next, chuck todd and wes moore join the set. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ female announcer ] born from the sweet monk fruit,

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it was an exciting, thrilling experience, and it

didn't end the way we wanted it to, but the experience itself was magnificent. were there tough days? absolutely. were there exhilarating days? yeah, even more of them. so i count is one of the great life experiences. anybody would say, can you imagine it any more fantastic than being able to run for president of the united states? >> i can think of one thing. >> well, winning. winning. >> mm-hmm. >> welcome back to "morning joe." let's bring in nbc news chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. also best-selling author -- >> wes. >> good morning. >> -- wes moore. he's going to be hosting the oscars next year. hey, chuck, i'm looking at all the sunday shows and "meet the press," you guys were packed, but i didn't have rodman. you didn't have the worm. >> the worm. the worm turns. >> the worm got away. >> he did. he slithered away. >> stephanopoulos grabbed him. >> didn't he do some morning show? something to be -- it's something to trumpet.

>> that's a good saying for american journalism. >> is this something to be proud of? nothing says sunday morning like dennis rodman. >> i saw it on "way too early." i thought it was a "saturday night live" -- >> he really got to the tough questions. >> i thought they were running a "saturday night live" clip. >> he just wants to call, man. >> maybe he needs to go to congress. help out. >> where are we right now? it seems like the president got the best of the republicans on the tax deal. >> yeah. >> and then the sequestration, he really overplayed his hand. >> totally overplayed. >> i think the republicans got the best of him now which of course means we're now set up for the next showdown. >> i actually am now a total optimist about how it's going to play out. >> does the white house know they ever played their hand? >> yes. well, that's why the president went out on friday and suddenly backed off. >> he said never mind? fearmongering. he went out and said, never mind. we're going to be fine. ridiculous. it was absolutely ridiculous. and then he gets away with it time and time again.

it's just an embarrassment. >> they made a couple tactical decisions. they realized any time they're talking about the budget, yes, they win -- they quote, unquote, they think they win the argument against republicans. i go to the same line i used last week, they're the tall guy at the short man's convention. and it drags them down, too. and you've seen -- and our poll was the first one to show his numbers starting to slip a little bit. why? >> on the economy. overall, still very strong. >> it is, but the budget -- you see the beginning of him getting dragged down and a protracted budget fight, okay. then john boehner could go from 15% to 12%. but the president was going to go down to, you know, 50% down to 45%. and then you lose your opportunity to try to do immigration. and i thought what was interesting is when the president totally, like, flips and says, this is not going to be the apocalypse. let's talk about the rest of my agenda. here's why i'm an optimist. because i think in six months, sequestration, washington's filled with known sequestrian.

>> a known thespian. >> florida, 1950. >> against claude kirk. >> claude kirk -- not claude kirk, george smathers. gets peppered. >> his wife is a known thespian. >> which she was, an actress. >> i love florida. >> by september when you have the regular order as boehner calls it, house passes a budget, i actually think by then if these cuts do -- if -- we know they're going to be pain in certain places. there's going to be real pain in some places. then you'll have to comment where republicans say the president got his tax hikes. republicans say democrats got their spending cuts. then you'll see that everybody's ready to do a little more revenue, a little more cuts, entitlement. and so that's why i think everybody needs some breathing room. raise the white flag as everybody did. >> right. >> and in september, you might see the big deal one more time.

>> wes, the stupidity of it all is that they're going after investments in the future. they're going after defense. and they're also going after education. they're going after the 12% of the budget that's not going to do a damn thing about bringing down the long-term debt. and they're ignoring the entitlement explosion. >> and that's the thing. we don't have to overplay the impacts question because the real impact is very real. you're absolutely right. it is 2.3% of the budget as people continue to throw out that number. it's the smallest portion of the budget and the place where we do have to worry about, investments. so when you have a person -- the fact is, summer pell grants are gone. these are very real issues for people who rely on this. we're continuing to hurt people who can least afford to be hurt. >> every cut affects a person because everything in the budget is a dollar that goes to somebody. nothing -- so are we saying we could never cut anything? >> hold on. hold on. >> i've got to say an important point here. first of all, the president, the

agencies can move the cuts around to save the summer pell grants. secondly, the appropriators go back, and if the president and the leaders stay out of the way, let the appropriators do their job starting in march, right now, they can move the numbers around. that's what we have to have happen. i'm sorry, go ahead. >> no, and that's the point, too. that hasn't even been part of the larger conversation. when the idea that we're going to make across-the-board cuts, the fact that no business would operate this way, that is a fundamental problem both in terms of the actual physical economic infrastructure but also the psychological infrastructure. we have industries already going over years and years of cuts, and this is now thrown on. you look at hospital systems like johns hopkins. which is already now trying to incorporate aca, which is already trying to incorporate all these new identifications. and now gets new information that sequester, across-the-board cut is going to hit. the problem isn't just physical infrastructure, it's psychological infrastructure and what it does to people particularly post-election time. this is exactly what we voted

against. >> those hospitals will be getting letters saying that payments will be reduced, however overblown some might think this was. chuck, if we could go into la la land for one second. i know he's already there. i'm going to join. if the republicans, like many support, had agreed to close loopholes, could they have gotten the grand bargain with real cuts and done it together with democrats and the white house? could it have happened if they gave on that? >> not now. the only -- >> but could it? >> in hindsight, it should have happened at the end of the year. as we found out basically republicans politically only had one shot at doing revenue. right now. and this was -- the president was asking, here's -- to me, cornyn, mcconnell and boehner acting rationally about their own politics. here's what the president was asking. will you risk your -- not risk -- will you end your political career in order to stop sequestration?

because any move on taxes, we saw what happened in kentucky with rand paul. we saw what happened in texas with ted cruz. cornyn and mcconnell, it isn't a could be if they would lose. over. done. they were asking -- and so -- >> and by the way, i would vote against any republican that voted to raise taxes in three months -- twice in three months -- without getting an entitlement cut. not only would i vote against that republican, i would campaign against them. i would raise money to beat them. i would call all my friends. if you were a republican -- and just underlining your point, and you vote to raise taxes twice -- >> or you let it happen as leadership, even if you don't vote for it or you let it happen. >> let it happen and you don't get entitlement reform in return, you are not worthy to represent. >> but this is why i'm optimistic in six months. because if the cuts are going to be painful in some of these places, and i think this is sort of one of these cases where the government -- sequestration's a great experiment. it's a tough experiment. it's not fair to some people

that are having their own personal lives upended by this. but however, just like in any budget-cutting situation, you go back. and in six months, we can go back and see which ones were totally wrong. which ones may have worked. we may find out an agency may have figured out how to manage around it and become more efficient. so in some places there might be some efficiencies. >> by the way -- >> and you no know this happens. >> time and time again, where you cut and actually they become more efficient. but we'll see. chuck, i'm with you. i think we've actually had a balance add approach. the president got all -- hold on -- >> in an unbalanced way. >> the president got tax increases. republicans got all cuts in early march. now let's have the big plan where we close loopholes, reform entitlement programs. good things happen. chuck, thanks for being here. we'll see you about 9:05. >> or 9:04. >> 9:06. >> did you see on friday? >> we banked it. >> on time? >> no.

she gave me, like, 15, 20 seconds. >> i made up for your -- >> makeup? >> yeah. >> i say there's a pattern here. >> i'm on time always. >> always. >> exactly when we do live hits, we have to hit perfectly. >> joe scarborough, known sequesterian. >> wes, stay with us if you can. up next, bill karins revises the weather forecast this week as a nasty storm could spell trouble from chicago to washington, d.c. >> not new york, though. don't worry about it, chuck. >> we'll get an update. >> we'll be right back. ♪

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welcome back to "morning joe." we do have a snowstorm that's going to impact a lot of people trying to move across this country. let me try to break down the timing for you, let you mow when it's going to impact your travel schedule. today it's mostly up in the dakotas. monta montana's got blizzard conditions now. now it's snowing pretty good in minneapolis and even a little sliver through the center of illinois. that's the taste of the beginning of it. winter storm warnings in pink from fargo to minneapolis to chicago. and then that will be extended in the day as head. this is the swath of snow, that area of white, the pink in there is possibility of up to a foot. you notice the bull's-eye there

right outside of d.c., especially areas from virginia to the mountains of maryland and also mountains of west virginia. let me break it down for you, show you what we'll be expecting. snow totals, this is for the monday/tuesday time frame. minneapolis, possibility of six to ten inches by tomorrow afternoon. chicago, most of this is during the day on tuesday. it will be over with by about midnight tuesday. so in other words, you're trying to fly out of o'hare tomorrow, it may even be closed for a portion of time. very difficult to get in and out of chicago tomorrow. milwaukee, same thing. and then it moves through the ohio valley with lesser amounts. as far as the east coast goes, the busy worst travel day is wednesday. that's when the heaviest snow and rain will be coming down. a lot of the d.c. airports and baltimore, possibility of even philadelphia will have problems. right now the big cities like d.c., probably three to six inches. the mountainous areas, as mentioned, a lot higher totals as we go into the higher elevations in the east. i'll fine tune that forecast through the next couple days. up next on "morning joe," democratic senator kirsten

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welcome back to "morning joe" at 42 past the hour opinion joining us now from capitol hill, democratic senator from new york, senator kirsten gillibrand. kwi kwi kirsten, great to see you. >> good to talk to you. >> you had quite a day in alabama yesterday. >> incredibly inspiring. a number of senators and house members went down to washington to talk about and really see the sights of the civil rights movement. and we were in selma, and congressman john lewis led this delegation and talked about what it was like when he was a young man and was beaten across the head because he was marching for civil rights. he was marching for the right to vote. >> all right.

>> it really is, i mean here we are now so many years later. tell me, what did it mean to you? how moving was it to be there with john? >> it was incredible. we had a church service at brown chapel which is where the march started. and the sermon they were giving was all about being able to be your brother's keeper and stand up for what's right and that sometimes blood is shed in the name of what's right. and they were talking about how congress obviously needs to come together and learn how to govern and represent all of the people and represent what's right. and so i thought it was a great opportunity for members of both parties to come down to selma, understand what it takes, what sacrifice it takes to really bring this country to a better place. >> you know, selma was so important for so many reasons. but just like a lot of the horrific activities in birmingham by connor in 1964 led to the civil rights act. >> civil rights act, voting rights act. >> wes has a question for you. but wes, what happened in selma

led to the voting rights act of 1965. >> that's exactly right. and that, i think, is part of the power of selma. it shows the power of human intervention. laws were pushed and changed because people force it had to take place that way. and senator gillibrand, i have a question along those lines. going back to selma now shows how much progress has been made over the past four decades. but what does it also mean about what still what needs to be done in terms of voting rights, preserving voting rights for all people? >> congressman lewis has authored this bill about voting rights. we had 200,000 people in florida, joe, that didn't get to vote in the last election because of lines. we had, in the last election previous, we had 3 million people who had voter registration problems and weren't able to vote. so if we could register online, be able to vote early, we could change some of the dynamics that result in long lines and people being denied the right to vote. so we want to basically renew

and revive the civil rights movement in terms of making sure every american gets to vote. >> so you're telling me 200,000 voters didn't vote in florida. so mitt romney could have won? is that what we're saying here? >> who knows? but i doubt those were voters that would have supported mitt romney. >> i might have lost my bet to axelrod! you know what i don't get, barnicle, what i don't get is you have the supreme court now actually reviewing -- >> section 5. >> -- section 5 of the 1965 voting rights act, and why? if we don't -- if we want to make sure that the south is not unfairly targeted all these years later, why don't we just have section 5 apply to all states and just have an examination of all states? >> well, i believe section 5 does apply to several states -- >> nine states. i think alaska, parts of california, arizona. >> yeah. but the irony, senator, is it

not, that section 5 being discussed before the supreme court last week, the 50th anniversary of the march that you participated in yesterday with the vice president and congressman lewis, race, in a sense, does remain a huge, huge dilemma in this country, that remains unsolved. >> well, even if you look at the activity of legislatures across the country in the last election with efforts to really impede the right of people to vote, making it more difficult, that's going in the wrong direction, not the right direction. there's still challenges, even in new york, we have some of our voting reviewed. and so we have to make sure that we're not -- we're moving in the direction of more people getting to vote more easily. and that's why i can use new tools like being able to register online. it would transform access to voting for a lot of people. >> nor, before you go, i want to ask you about the sequester which is now officially in effect. was it overblown by the white house, as some contend, and by democrats in terms of being exaggerated? >> and republicans in terms of

defense cuts. >> yeah. >> well, no, i still have serious concerns. i mean, if you're a mom whose child who has special needs education is being cut off, that's a real concern. if you are someone who has a young child in early childhood education and she's being cut off, that's a real concern. these are serious cuts. and if they are made permanent, they are serious. and so what we should be doing is coming together, making the nor nuanced cuts that are used with more judgment and discretion, and we can do that. we did, for example, i'm on armed services. i'm on the ag committee. we created a farm bill on the ag committee that cut $23 billion, got rid of the wasteful direct payments and instead put it in an insurance system. that's common sense. so if we could come together and replace some of these more egregious cuts, the ones people agree on don't make sense, that would be wise. >> i think that's something they could all agree on. let's let the appropriators do their jobs. >> senator kirsten gillibrand,

thank you so much. >> thank you, senator. >> great to see you. >> thank you. >> wes, thank you as well. it's great to see you. up next, opening day of major league soccer. why football frenzy may be breaking out in the u.s. >> oh, how exciting. you can just sense it. look at the hair standing up on the back of his neck. >> soccer analyst roger bennett is here next. you're watching "morning joe." [ kitt ] you know what's impressive? a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel.

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valeri! the timbers are back in business! >> 20,000 to watch major league soccer's opening. joining me now is espn soccer analyst roger bennett. i had somebody tweet me over the weekend saying why do you disappoint yourself every weekend cheering thousands of miles away when you can cheer for a team that will break your heart here in new york. >> that is an amazing scene. looks like argentina, brazil. >> i thought it was.

>> things to come. >> that was portland. so big games in england as well. of course the big one, what happened. >> north london, darby. a great power. perpetual aspiration. >> this is like watching jacob steal esau's birthright. he plays like superman. every team wants him. those who don't read history, to repeat it, it's a cliche. this time it's aaron landern. he gave arsenal hope. as arsenal fans know all too well, it's the hope that kills you. >> it's the hope that kills you. >> arsenal owned by stan kronky,

the more than. he runs it as if he doesn't know he owns it, to be honest. >> oh, one of those. >> that's not a good sign. man u, another american-owned team, just absolutely running away with it. they played nordich. >> these guys are 12 points ahead in the red, manchester united. he became the first asian to score in this league. slightly less nuance goal for mika's favorite. >> right. that's pretty good. >> i know you were very worried about how his hair transplant was -- >> exactly. is it working? >> the hair is perfect. >> warren ziva, look at that hair. that guy was bald a couple of years ago.

whoever his hair plug doctor is, i want him. so here we have epl spangtandin. man u way ahead. arsenal fifth, everton sixth, and liverpool seventh. >> what's the deal with liverpool? >> they need -- >> listen, i think joe and i were very clear several weeks ago. they need to get joe jan out of dallas, texas, and give him a one-way ticket to manchester. he can take the 35-minute bus ride over to liverpool and work with some good people and turn that club around. >> another american-owned team that's stumbling. the big name, the manchester united, this tuesday playing rail madrid. >> roger bennett, thank you very much. up next as the budget cuts kicked into effect on friday,

president obama was sounding the alarm. >> the janitors, the security guards, they just got a pay cut, and they got to figure out how to manage that. that's real. >> it actually turned out that wasn't real at all. but we are separating fact from real fiction, from exaggerations, coming up next on "morning joe." i've discovered gold. [ female announcer ] roc® retinol correxion max. the power of roc® retinol is intensified with a serum. it's proven to be 4x better at smoothing lines and deep wrinkles than professional treatments. roc® max for maximum results. in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime.

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it's 8 a.m. on the east coast, 5 a.m. on the west coast as you take a live look at new york city. welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to wake up. back with us on set we have mike barnicle and nicole wallis. >> she's great. >> as the dow hovers near record highs, there is a troubling question, why isn't unemployment dropping more quickly? "the new york times" reporting major corporations, often engines of job growth, have seen soaring profits but haven't been adding to their work force. in the third quarter, corporate profits accounted for over 14% of the national income. however, personal income has seen its largest drop in two decades, falling by $505.5 billion. the latest budget issue in washington leaves the government with just under three weeks, another deadline, to strike a

deal before funding for federal agencies runs out. unlike the sequestration that hit on friday, this time members of both parties are optimistic they'll agree on a plan. however, the two sides are still deadlocked over the $85 billion in federal budget cuts. gop clings to one thing it agrees on, spending cuts. the article goes on to list a series of issues dividing the gop's base from immigration to obamacare. house speaker john boehner is refusing to back down from president obama on spending cuts. >> is this going to hurt the economy? will it hurt economic recovery? >> i don't know whether it's going to hurt the economy or not. i don't think anyone cut understands how the sequester's really going to work. there's no one in this town who's tried harder to come to an agreement with the president to deal with our long-term spending problem. no one. it's unfortunate, and we've knot been able to come to an

agreement. but the house did its work to avoid the sequester. there's no plan from senate democrats or the white house to replace the sequester. and over the last ten months house republicans have acted twice to replace the sequester. there are smarter ways to cut spending than these automatic -- >> mr. speaker, that's not true. they've made it very clear, as the president just did, that the president has a plan that he's put forward that involves entitlement cuts, that involves spending cuts, that you've made a choice, as have republicans, to leave tax loopholes in place and you'd have those -- >> david, that's just nonsense. if he had a plan, why wouldn't senate democrats go ahead and pass it? >> president obama downplayed the impact of the sequester, which is in effect. >> just to make a final point about the sequester, we will get through this. this is not going to be an apocalypse, as some people have

said. >> actually, he's the one that said it. that's good. >> and the republicans. >> so we're going to be okay. it's okay. nothing has happened. >> they're not happening to you, barnicle, and they're not happening to you, joe, but they are happening. >> it's interesting that the president made this admission that it wasn't the end of the world and a lot of really bad things weren't going to be happening because he had been leading this dooms-day course for some time with white house officials claiming that the sequestration cuts were going to have these immediate devastating effects, cats and dogs living together. watch this. >> this is not a game. this is reality. they would degrade our ability to respond to crises precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe. >> you can't not hurt jobs,

generates. you are going to hurt children getting mental health treatment. >> threats from terrorism and the need to respond and recover from natural disasters do not diminish because of budget cuts. >> if there's going to be harm, there is going to be pain and the american people are going to be less safe. >> less safe flying on your g-5. >> as the budget cuts kicked in effect on friday, some claims went from alarming to flat-out inaccurate. >> starting tomorrow, everybody here, all the folks cleaning the floors at the capitol, they're going to have less pay, the janitors, the security guards, they just got a pay cut, and they got to figure out how to manage that. >> that's not really the fact. in fact, the office that manages the janitorial staff that manages the white house said, quote, the president's statement

was not true. the president's statement, which earned him the highest marks on the washington pinocchio meter, regarding the effects of the sequester. >> a lot more children will not get the kinds of services and opportunities they need and as many as 40,000 teachers could lose their jobs. there are literally teachers now getting pink slips, notices they can't come back this fall. >> oh, that's horrible. my son, little 4-year-old, he loves going to school in the morning. right? little kate, she's 9 here. you just take a drink while willy and i talk for a second. my 9-year-old girl, kate, she loves school. mike? >> no. nope. >> do you mean the pink slips -- >> starting wednesday, joe. home. >> oh, wow, you guys are -- it's

so easy for you all to say this. >> willy, have you been digging into this claim a little bit? >> yes. it turned out to be incorrect. >> what did you find out? >> the white house, turned out, couldn't -- and other pinocchios from the washington fact check. >> let's roll this one. >> we are beginning today, discussions with our unions to likely close more than 100 air-traffic control towers at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations per year. >> we're not going anywhere. >> all right. >> by the way, the assistant, he was really angry, and for good reason. his assistants went out and said this was going to amount to

castration. i've never been castrated but it doesn't sound like a good thing. >> that's painful. >> another said it was self-induced suicide, something like that. >> who said that? a democrat or republican? >> democrat. >> since republicans were whining about this so-called non-sequester that you all think don't exist. >> it always doesn't have to be like republican or democrat. both sides were exaggerating. >> you could say both sides, but i'd like to go back to the first claim. >> the administration is continuing, and on the defense budget cuts in particular, nicole, defense spending? defense spending continues to go up every single year. even after the sequester. there are no cuts. there are no cuts at the pentagon. >> there were never any cuts, right? we spend less, but we never cut. and what's so interesting to me

is how completely disoriented the democrats and obama administration seems to have become by the message here. and we talk a lot when an administration gets their facts wrong, particularly when it pertains to national security. it's a real crisis. we talk about investigating, we talk about the most dire consequences for a white house when it comes to national security. people's economic security is no less dire in the minds of most americans, and to say they have their facts wrong would be a kind description of what's gone on here. they are either misleading the public deliberately, totally confused, or they have no idea of what they're doing. >> the president's running a presidential campaign. nobody told him that he won. he's done 18 events, 17, 18 events. he's campaigning all over the place. he's exaggerating like he's in the middle of a campaign. >> so i would say both sides are exaggerating and i would not argue that both sides exaggerated, including the

president, having said that, the white house would respond to the washington post article, saying that janitors on the hill did receive notice they will not be getting the ot pay anymore. it is money they will not get anymore now. number two, the white house will tell you that 800,000 people got furlough notices in the department of defense, and that when you do the math, these are all clustered down into seven months, these cuts, so they're concentrated, which makeans the people who don't need these cuts, will be affected by them. >> here's the problem. they knew the sequester was coming. >> they created the sequester. let me just -- the sequester isn't the storm that they saw. they created the sequester. >> so the president creates the

sequester. >> along with the republicans. >> right. >> it was the president and jack lew's idea, and they get really upset when you give them that reality. >> right. >> so they knew it was coming, and in fact -- >> because they created it. >> -- budget seven months ago, asked the president, should we go ahead and start planning so these agencies won't be hurt? the response was, no, just budget the way you normally budget. and so they didn't prepare for it, and the president campaigned and he's still campaigning, he's exaggerating, and we now get twa point where it's actually 1.2% this year. it's going to not be 85 billion. it's going to be 42 billion. $42 billion out of a $3.553 trillion budget. that's also $42 billion out of a $16 trillion economy. that's about a penny on the dollar that the white house has

to cut. and it's really unfortunate scene where you have the president, nicole, going out there trying to tell us that because of this penny out of a dollar that's being cut, planes are going to fall from the sky and people are going to eat rotten meat. e colli, they warned us, we're going to get it. we're not going to be able to forecast, their words, not ours, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes. >> and where are we that we can't cut -- so is this where we are as a country? we can't cut anything ever? so instead of going into is this with courage and bravery and saying to the country here's where we are and we have to make cuts and this is not how we would have designed them, but here's where we are, and we feel confident so you should feel confident we'll get through this, which seemed to be a message he tried to tack on to all his doomsday fearmongering,

friday at 4:00, but where are we that we can't cut that tiny bit? they've left out the largest chunks. >> they're cutting, willy, and mike, the worst absolute place to cut. >> it's predictable that that would be the case, but their public relations problem, the administration's public relations problem, when you're talking about the cuts that will have to be made, the sequester cuts, is that the american families, given the ever-widening income gap, they've been taking 1 cent out of every dollar they earn, 2 cents, just to get by. that the government can't do this is mystifying to most people. >> mika's right that most people are being affected by this. traffic controllers. but these are in the grand scheme of our budget marginal cuts.

>> coming up, valerie plame is here with a mission to wipe out nuclear weapons. and up next, would you pay $500,000 for access to the president? >> absolutely not. >> well, if you have the cash, you might just be able to do that. "the new york times" nicholas tesori will be with us. >> how much would you pay to have dinner with bill karins. >> fine line, mika. here's a look at your forecast. as we go throughout this major winter storm, and here's hoping this is the last one we talk about till next winter. the snow has begun snowstorm from fargo up to northern north dakota. light snow in minneapolis. the main event will be later tonight into tomorrow. temperatures are plenty cold from the great lakes, ohio

valley, and areas near pittsburgh. as we go throughout the day today, snow accumulates 3 to 6 inches, as much as 6 to 12 north of fargo, and then as we go throughout tuesday into tuesday night, into wednesday morning, the storm redevelops over north carolina. as we go through wednesday night, that'll be the peak of the storm, heaviest snow near d.c. and baltimore. we could have very strong winds and large waves and possibility of coastal flooding in same areas hit by hurricane sandy. minneapolis and chicago, a pretty big snowstorm for you, tuesday, especially, and then as we head towards the east coast, temperatures are border-line, but d.c., possibility of 3 to 6, same for philadelphia. new york, i've left you off the weather map for now. i think the storm will be

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the lobbyists, the special interests who have turned our government into a game only they can afford to play, they write

the checks, and you get stuck with the bill, they get the access while you get to write a letter. they think they own this government. but we're here today to take it back. the time for that kind of politics is over. it is through. it's time to turn the page right here and right now. >> that was then senator obama announcing his presidential campaign. >> glad to hear that kind of politics is over. thank god. >> no more red state, blue state. >> no more access to the white house. >> he was taking on the money for access game in government. >> i agree with him. people always say i don't agree with the president. i'm serious. when i said this in 2007, i was like, you know what, i'm a republican, but this guy is on to something, and if he can just do this one thing, i think it would be a great step toward forward. >> but he didn't, right? >> exactly.

>> joining us here, political writer for the "new york times," nicholas confisori, who is been exploring the president's change of heart on this. >> he just showed up. >> are you telling me he changed his mind. >> latest reporting for the "new york times" was on the obama advocacy group. it's called organizing for action, and in part, you write, quote, this. president obama's political team is fanning out across the country in pursuit of an ambitious goal, raising $50 million to convert his re-election campaign. giving $500,000 or more puts donors on a national advisory board, and the privilege of attending quarterly meetings with the president at the white house. >> i'm sorry. hold on. let me write this -- i need a

pie chart. so are you saying that if they give money here, 'cause that doesn't sound like what he said before. they get -- i can't even draw the white house. >> it doesn't seem right. >> also, that they get to go here? nick, is that what's going on here? >> that into there. >> that doesn't sound like what he said in the past. >> theoretically, obama for america, i should say, "organizing for action" is a separate group. it just happens to have on its board half of the alumni -- >> all presidents do that, though, right? >> yeah, look. >> this one promised he wasn't going to? >> presidents always promise to give coffee and tea, meetings of financial executives.

>> president clinton has to say, today is the day that we in america call president's day. that was a really good moment. i like that. that was cool. it was outreach. >> when clinton was doing it, right, he raised the money into the democratic national committee, and that's how presidents used to do this. if they wanted some artillery when they were in office, they would help their party raise money, the party would pay for the ad. but he's chosen to privatize the operation. >> that's the difference. >> and if it's for a party, there are rules against asking for contributions in certain ways, there are rules that federal officials can't solicit money. i think they're saying they're going to observe a lot of these rules voluntarily, but it's very different to have a voluntary regime in place than to say it's illegal, you can go to jail. >> so "new york times" editorial

really takes them on here. the white house joins the cash grab. if it's understandable that the white house might want to make shusse of its campaign voter list, when it needs help getting bills through congress, but the pursuit of big money makes it impossible to call this a grassroots effort. any corporation can give lavishly to organizing for action as a way of incurring favor knowing that the west wing will take note. it's also for donors to bypass the limits of giving to the democratic party -- that carried mr. obama into office in 2008, it can refuse all corporate contributions and limit donations to a few hundred dollars. otherwise it will be playing the same sleazy game that its opponents do. >> it's not unlike crossroads gps, which you recall from the

campaign. its president is a protege of mitch mcconnell in the senate. when you give money to crossroads, you know, mitch mcconnell will take notice. it's a similar thing with the president and the white house. it seems even uglier. but the problem is this is going to institutionize this way of doing business in washington. >> i'm not really shocked by this, nicole. this is just like, okay, the president made a promise and he broke the promise in a very public way. i think what's fascinating about this is that this president is proving that he really is a loan wolf, that the eight years of barack obama is an eight years of the ascendy. he doesn't trust the democratic party to handle his organization.

what you see is obama inc. >> that's right. >> and after he leaves, the parade goes with him. >> i think that's right. the other thing is, unlike reagan, who created a whole new class of voters, obama hasn't created a whole new class of republican voters. he hasn't been this transformational. >> he certainly brought in minority voters. >> what's so extraordinary is that time and time again, barack obama is completely inoculated from his own democratizations of political purity. he's going to make things better but he doesn't have to participate by his own better rules. >> this started all the way back to him saying i am going to take federal money because this is such a corrupt system, and the second he figured out he could raise more money than mccain, he just flip-flopped.

>> this is the first full presidency with twitter and facebook being what it is, and i think it's exactly right. he's packaging this to consolidate this power, this immense power that he has out there for what he's going to do maybe afterwards. the money, the followers, how do you consolidate and keep that fresh? >> this is a foundation for the post-presidency, and i imagine this will evolve into his version of the clinton initiative. and you can understand his difficulty, which is we have to keep this together, there's an organization in place, it's expensive, and the only way to do is to raise money quickly. the problem is by doing it outside the party, you raise this weird hybrid. >> so this actually isn't just, again, for what happens the next 3 1/2 years, what you guys are saying, this is where he'll go

to raise money for the presidential library. >> the way in this era, to be a semi-campaign organization. the thing who united nations it is the president. you can't really farm this out to back other candidates. it's about his relationship with his supporters. >> these ex-presidents get so -- when he becomes an ex-president, they get so ambitious. i think i'm going to just put on a hawaiian shirt. >> really? >> you wouldn't get bored? >> of course. i'd want to take over key west. never stop. >> thank you. >> thank you so much, nick. >> up next, the power of zero. valerie plame join us us with her push to help rid the world of nuclear weapons. keep it right here on "morning joe."

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would you stand up against our greatest threat?

♪ >> would you commit to change the world? ♪ >> that was a clip from global zero's latest ad. here with us now, activist for global zero and former covert cia operations officer, valerie plame. good to have you. >> thank you for having me. >> let's not bury the lead. >> which lead is it? >> 50 pounds, man. >> we're going to go right there. i agree with that. this is your husband we're talking about. >> yes. he's lost a lot of weight in the

last year. life in santa fe is treating us well. >> good. looks like it. >> but i am glad to be here as part of global zero, an international movement for a world without nuclear weapons, and we are launch be a global campaign this week. two things, we're asking, calling on president obama to begin to bring the nuclear arsenals of russia and the united states, reduce them further, and this is a historic next big step, to bring the nuclear leaders, nuclear powers to the table for international nuclear arms reductions. >> that hasn't happened in a while -- >> it's never happened. >> as far as arms talks, and the president starts talking about reducing nuclear weapons, a lot of people feel like it's the 1980s all over again. in fact, some people will memo to the president, it's not 1987. talk about what we have to do all these years later and why

it's important today. >> absolutely. you showed that clip. there's still 17,000 nuclear weapons in the world today. from the high at the cold war of about 70,000 to 80,000, but it's a far more dangerous world today with the rise of the terrorist threat, and so it becomes ever more essential that we begin to focus on this. and president obama, obviously with his re-election in the second term, he's no doubt thinking about his legacy, and no matter he can accomplish on healthcare reform orb immigration reform or gun -- all of those things won't matter if he can't get this done, and he knows that better than anyone. >> the russian nuclear arsenal, whose hands are these weapons now in? >> they continue to be under military karocontrol, but it's really the russians that would

be cause for concern. it can be a country like pakistan, where they are deeply infiltrated throughout their government with al qaeda and al qaeda affiliates. that's what keeps people up at night. >> but the breakup of the old soviet union, has that done anything to disperse who olds weapons under control. >> no. through the luger act they did a lot of clean up in the earl '90s when the vosoviet union broke apart. e with look at the former soviet republics and how, as we were saying, potatoes were guarded better than this uranium. scary. >> that is really scary. >> that is frightening. >> and nonproliferation advocates, it's not a partisan divide. the nonproliferation community is a mix of security -- >> this is not a partisan issue.

and with this campaign, to be able to call on the president to say, you know, we really need to bring, for the first time in history, all the nuclear powers. there are nine in the world today -- to the table. there's also going to be a letter to president obama calling for -- it's written by over 75 former prime ministers, presidents, defense chiefs, generals, petition. and you can find all of that at global zero.org. it's calling on him to say, let's bring our power to bring to the table the leaders of the nuclear nations and to begin to talk about nuclear arms reduction. >> what about vladimir putin? a difficult guy to deal with, and unless you ask him to take off his shirt while fly fishing, he's with you, or singing "my way," kind of a strange guy.

david rimnick told us this, came back from russia and was shocked as how resentment against america drives policy over there. do you think we'll be able to get somebody like vladimir putin, who is whipping up resentment against the united states to sit down with us. >> don't forget, of course his audience is domestic. we do have the president of russia, who very openly, as obama has said as well, this is a vision of a world without nuclear weapons, and really what president obama is doing is picking up the mantel of president reagan, who was the first one to envision of a world without nuclear weapons. so really, obama is picking that up and running the next leg. >> let's talk about your personal life because that's what we do here.

how happy are you to be out of washington, d.c.? like when did it hit you that you were outside of the bubble, that all of the mess was in your rearview mirror? did it happen the day you moved to santa fe or did it slowly -- >> we moved, i testified before congress on the whole leak of my cia identity, and literally that afternoon i gout on an airplane to new mexico. we knew we needed to leave town and rebuild our lives professionally and personally. and that's what we've done. we love it there, we miss our friends, but i gotta tell you i don't miss washington one bit. >> what's joe doing. is he going to the desert trying to find nickels? joe, i'm just joking with you, buddy. >> he's doing a lot of work in

africa. he's bringing energy needs, and between the two of us, we're busy driving around our 13-year-old twins they are doing great. >> can i just say 13 is perhaps the most horrid age for children. >> it's a challenge. we feel really fortunate after all we've been through that they're healthy, happy, doing well in school, and hopefully go into public service or something. >> we're going to help you out here. barnicle and i, between us have 47 children, so mike, you give your advice first, and then i will. >> well, drive them everywhere, and say nothing when you're in the car andual learn so much about their lives. >> i know, it's like you're stone. have no idea, just listening from the backseat. >> also, mika, also has the advice of just get them to the car because you're driving forward, you talk -- seriously -- >> it's the parallel thing. >> that's where they talk.

>> indirect instead of hi, what's going on. tell us what's going on in your life. >> because if you ask about school, you get, "fine." and all the social media, you keep track of that, but it is a whole new parenting paradigm. >> i found a fabulous facebook page. >> oh, my goodness. >> i learned about the whole town. >> also, what i always did with my kids when they turned 13, my boys especially, i went up to them, and said, hey, listen, you're going to think i'm crazy, i'll see you when you're 18, and second, if you try to hug me in public, i will tackle you and kiss you on the mouth. your call. you can pretend you're too cool for me. and two things, they always hugged me in public in front of their friends, and two, when they were 18, they said it's great to be back. it is a tough two or three

years, but it's worth it. >> maybe just joe and i will move back to washington. >> valerie plame, thank you so much. >> globalzero.org. >> we'll also be posting that up on our own website after the show. >> coming up next, business headlines with brian shactman. keep it right here on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] i've seen incredible things. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business.

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iphone died. >> that's funny. shactman is here. >> he is. >> what's going on? >> i'll tell you about some ap information in a minute, but just quickly, markets are down, a lot of has to do with china, housing market overheating a little bit. but i will say late last year was one of the first months in 20-plus years where the united states was not the number one oil importer in the world. it was china. for the full year, we don't know if it's going to be the case, but for the first time in a long time, china was importing more oil than the united states. >> the exciting news is by 2020 we're going to be the number one exporter of oil. >> if the fracking train keeps rolling. >> the fracking train shall keep rolling. then you look at natural gas. i'm telling you, we have some great opportunities over the next five, ten years, if we can just get washington out of the way. >> yeah. >> you can speak for yourself on that one. i want to talk about the ap

world. >> what does that mean? >> i -- >> do you have no opinion of your own? >> this show is fascinating because i'm training not to have an opinion. >> how do you train? >> because i'm supposed to report on the news. >> shactman, that's the easiest thing in the world to do, not to have an opinion. you don't need to be trained for that. >> you tell a good story, though, still. >> not really. it has no end. >> go ahead. >> i've gone from shaq business before the bell, so now i'm equated with a monkey. >> she started it at 6:00. >> let's do another story that you have no opinion. >> yeah, you feel nothing. >> the wall street general and "new york times" are stories on both the ap world. it is now a $25 billion business. the more you do work online, the more privileged information through your employer that is

potentially out there. so it's just huge burgeoning business. but now the stuff is out there for anyone to hack at. >> what's going on in detroit. >> this is an interesting story. >> i've actually reported from detroit several times, very objective about the housing sector. they're going out of business. they don't have a tax base. dave bane, the former nba player is there. it's a disaster. >> it's kind of an opinion you just said, it's a disaster. >> i'm trying to -- >> cool and dispassionate. >> there's some good people in detroit but they can't get the money. >> you guys are so mean today. this is, i mean, this is usually only this mean at 6:00. i'm sweating.

why are we being so mean today? >> i'm not sweating. >> i am. i'm uncomfortable. >> it's okay. i tried to -- >> some say that brian shactman is -- >> dot, dot, dot. >> objective. >> that's just your opinion. >> but the rug does make the room, so -- >> whoa! >> i can't believe where we're going. >> the sox are now in spring training. >> barnicle's got the 85 as the over-under. i think basically it's toronto's year to lose it. i think they'll be better but not very good. i want them to be better than the yankees. >> you think 85 wins? >> yes. >> how much wins? >> 88. >> i'm a skeptic. 82. >> really? >> 82. but i'm going to be there every night. >> get off the fence. are they winners or losers? >> what's your opinion?

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some employees will be outright let go, including inner city public school teachers like miss bane here.

this must be so hard for you. >> this is the greatest day of my entire like. good like reading beowolf, you monsters. we're going to have to fire three of our monkeys. on the plus side, ikea and taco bell have made a generous offer to buy some of our horses. >> plus there'll be cutbacks on meat inspections. >> you know what -- these cuts will affect our military, our civil servants, federal construction projects, even grants to native americans. and i'm the one who has to tell these folks, young men, there's no need to feel down. young men, pick yourself off the ground. young men, just 'cause your funding is down, there's no need

to be unhappy. >> that's really funny. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today. [ male announcer ] marie callender's puts all the things we love about sunday meals into each of her pot pies. like tender white meat chicken and vegetables in a golden flaky crust that's made from scratch. marie callender's pot pies. it's time to savor.

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